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The young Okumo begins to walk from the dam's gates and out into the soggy river bed, his amber eyes looking around him some what cautiously. Both of the young teen's hands were resting in his pockets, leaving only his thumbs truly exposed to the air. A soft hum vibrates in his throat as his attention shifts from the currently blank display board before shifting and looking up into the near empty cliff side stands. 'This is likely a poor joke, isn't it?' was whispered, though noone was seemingly close enough to hear it.

From the mist of the dam area, a form actually starts to take shape, bits of mist clumping together and taking on the shape of a man until finally Yoichi appears with his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest, his usual stance. After a few moments he opens his eyes to spot only one shinobi in the arena thus far. "… About that time then," his flat voice rings out before he closes his eyes again to wait for more to arrive.

An odd, shuffling footstep punctuated by frequent cane taps heralds the approach of one more. Koseitama comes waddling out with a peculiar bent-legged posture and her umbrella acting to steady her. Most strangely, she has a rolled-up wad of paper jammed into the corner of her mouth like a cigar. She approaches the others and stops for a moment to puff out a plume of mist. "Thish iz all strickly buzhinesh, shee? I don't want to shee anybody gettin' their nozes outta joint over any pershonal gripesh." :

Akane waited on the top of the wall, watching Naoya enter and waiting for Yoichi to appear. The medic had picked up a few new tricks, but she wasn't sure she wanted to face the swordsman as the main agressor. She activated the chakra in her feet as Yoichi 'materialized' and walked down the wall as if she were on even ground. Her crimson hair was up in an elaborate do, held in place by her customary six hairsticks. Her clothing was typical: Leather pants, leather jacket, leather bustier, the brand on her hip in plain view, a ring on her left ring finger and tiny clock earrings in her ears. Her eyes were covered by her reflective glasses now, it would be impossible for anyone to tell what color her eyes were. She was fully decked out with weapons as well. Half way down the wall she paused, watching Koseitama enter. There was a new face. She finished the wall with a little hop and came out openly, silent toward Naoya and Koseitama and offering a short bow to Yoichi.

Walking into the arena, Amata takes a breath. She looks around at the area, not noticing the people yet, but instead taking in the area. She idly pulls Nuibari free, idly flicking the wire behind it before she blinks at the people here, looking to Yoichi first before looking to Naoya and then blinking as she spots Koseitama and her eye twitches. She fails to even notice Akane arriving as her eye twitches at Koseitama, "…yeah…"

As more people finally start to arrive, Yoichi would finally open his eyes again. A direct look is given to Koseitama as she speaks, the Swordsman quirking an eyebrow. Still, a random personality is to be expected of this one. "Very well. I'll give you all a few minutes to prepare and discuss strategies," his flat voice rings out as he looks around at them, offering a nod in return to those who bow or nod. "I suggest you come up with something impressive…"

Yuriko steps quietly as she enters the arena, her bright eyes peeking out from under the hood of her kimono and shifting back and forth from one person to the next. This many for a melee… the small girl wonders how it would go. Perhaps they do stand something of a chance against a Swordsman? Who knows.

Blinking a few times, Naoya watches the low mists crawling along the ground slowly rise not too far away, close to the center of the arena and take the shape of a man. The young teen tilts his head to one side when it spoke but then turns at the waist, looking behind himself at the now some what populated arena floor. Amber eyes flick back towards Yoichi for a moment before looking away, making his way over towards the growing group but even staying silent, confusion was painted on his face while looking at several more foreign faces.

Akane watched the people gathering and narrowed her eyes, silent. She shifted on her feet and moved to stand beside Amata. Chakra grew around her as Yoichi basicly told them to talk. Akane looked over the group and pondered whether it was better for her to stay out of this one and simply heal everyone….

Koseitama hooks the 'cigar' from her mouth and grins crookedly. "Oh, a tough guy, eh? Never met a tough guy I couldn't teach shome reshpect with a little organizational know-how." >) Koseitama waves the others inward, trying to form a conspiratorial circle. "Lishen up, thish ish the plan…we shet him up with shome one-two jabbin', then dazzle him with shome twinkle-toez, and then when he leasht exshpects it, bam! Shtaight up the schnozz." Koseitama pats the backs of anybody who drew near to her. "Got it? Okay, get to it, boyz!" >D Aaaaand she…stands back smugly. >)

Looking at the situation, Amata sighs and looks to Akane before looking forward and saying, "This is crazy but, you keep people alive and then see if you can stun him." She then looks to Yuriko, "You're on offense. I'll be main attempt to stun him." She then points at Naoya, "You join Yuriko on offense." She then looks at Koseitama and nods to her, "Do what you do best…confuse and annoy." She then nods to the lot, "You got your roles?"

Weird enough, the cooky one of the group is the only one giving instructions at first… even if they're not going to really be useful. Still, Amata finally takes over and gives some real instructions. The Swordsman offers a nod to the fellow Swordsman, showing a bit of respect for her actions. Then, however, things start to get interesting. A simple handsign weave, and the mist in the arena starts to get all the more dense. Game on.

Glancing up at Amata, the young girl lifts a pale brow for a moment as orders are given. The smirk quick to emerge at her lips as she turns her attention to Naoya. "You think you can keep up?" she asks, a bit of teasing in her voice, but obviously she's excited. As she then turns back to Yoichi, she clasps her hands together, the mist forming around her just as the ivory blade seems to magically appear from her palm.

Peering into the gathering mist, Yuriko scowls to herself. Nothing. Nothing was visible. And if she couldn't see anything… what are the odds that Naoya could? "Keep close…"

Naoya looks from face to face until Koseitama speaks up, though when she does the young teen simply stares at the woman for several moments bewildered. He was left blinking as he tries to see if it was a discreet message behind the words, before he turns to Amata and nods his head lightly twice. Slipping his hands from his pockets, the young teen moves a few digits into his hip pouches. "I'll be behind, giving you cover fire, the more angels the thinner his defenses will be." Returning his gaze to Yoichi but all he could see was a thickening of mist. "This.. might take a while." Naoya closes his eyes and exhales slowly as he begins to focus for a few moments.

Akane nodded to Amata's orders, but remained close to her as Yoichi dissolved into his predictable first step.. Mist. Focusing her chakra Akane sent out a wave of medical chakra, feeling for everyone's location but mainly for Yoichi's… And there he was. It seemed neither of the young ones could locate the Swordsman, and though she was supposed toheal people there was no damage as of yet so she stepped forward, calling out Yoichi's location in the mist as she moved toward Yoichi, her fingers aiming at various pressure points trying to immobilize him but just in case that missed (she knew his moves well by now) she spun, drawing a blade and slashing at him as she moved.

Unfortunately, Amata can't see any better than most but then Akane spots him in his mist and points him out. She nods to her as she attacks him and attempts to lock him down and she will do something similar though she is doing what her original plan was. She first creates a hand gesture and sends a storm of static electricity Yoichi's way and states, "See where that was, that's where you attack!" And she sends up a pile of webbing from her spiders over the area as well in an attempt to lock Yoichi down and then calls out, "Now! Attack with something powerful while he is webbed down!"

"'Ey, dat's cheap! Shtop tryin' ta shnow my boyz, ya lousy palooka!" Koseitama forms a few handseals and sends a draft over the misty area. It doesn't entirely dispel the screen, but it gets a little smaller. Fortunately Akane and Amata provide more detailed information on where to strike. "Yeah, dat'sh da shtuff! Have at 'im, boyz!" Koseitama sends a pair of air scythes at the spot Amata indicated. Not surprisingly, it appears Koseitama's current persona is a windbag. X)

Yoichi is nowhere to be seen for a bit until Akane calls out his location, and the others do a nice job of working with her to reveal his location. Akane's attacks go right through him easily as he reaches back to grab his swords, his body crackling with lightning as he moves at an incredible speed away from those of Amata and Koseitama. He'd then appear behind Akane again about ten feet behind her with a blade pointed at each her and Amata as needles of lightning fire from the blades at them.

Though she can't sense Yoichi, Yuriko tenses subtly when she hears Akane call out his location before making a strike herself. She makes a face. Already things were falling apart it feels like… Oh well. Amata cries out just after, though the Kaguya girl was extending the length of her blade just as this was happening. "Alright!" The ivory Camellia blade curves and pulling back her arm, Yuriko throws it at her intended target. Or at least in the direction she was pointed towards.

With widened eyes, Naoya watches as the near blinding mists are dismissed under the a steady barrage of ninjutsu following Akane's charge and seemingly striking at nothingness. The young Okumo holds his ground, waiting for Yoichi to simply stop sliding along the arena floor. Withdrawing a trio of shurikens from hip pouch, he rotates them in his palm, applying a thin webbed mesh to each of them shortly before lashing his arm forward to arch them around the small Kaguya who charged headlong into the flay.

Akane let out a short 'che' as Yoichi's body liquified and he avoided her attacks. She watched him avoid everyone else's attacks as well and shook her head. She saw him point his sword at her and charge it.. and simply.. disappeared. She moved so fast that she just wasn't there when the charge was thrown at her. She reappeared in close to him, hopefully behind him. flashing though several hand signs. She gathered her chakra in her mouth and brought two fingers to her mouth before exhaling a large fireball at Yoichi. Another breath and she repeated the gesture, but this time there were multiple fireballs.

A harumph escapes Amata to match Akane's che. She looks over at Akane and then looks back only to go the other direction from Akane. The attack doesn't hit anything but air and she shakes her head. Anyone who can see the chakra flow of her body can see it has changed drastically to allow her limbs to move more quickly. She then rushes forward with incredible speed, moving around the other two attackers to jump up into the air and attempt to slam a foot right into Yoichi's chest and then flip off and bring up another pile of spiders to wrap him up in webbing, "Koseitama! Now!"

Koseitama tilts her head this way and that. "Ah hash nuggetsh, alwaysh gotta do it yershelf in the end, eh? All right, here goesh!" Koseitama takes a leap upward, then blows a TREMENDOUS blast of air down at Yoichi. Good thing she's not facing toward the dam. c.c;

Yoichi doesn't even budge for much of the attack, allowing strike after strike to go right through him and even blasts of fire from Akane. Finally, though, the fellow Swordsman manages to get a strike past his defenses, sending him back a bit with a smirk on his face, but then he'd merely vanish with a crackle of lightning followed by the sound of a splash ringing out.

The sword returns to her hand, grip tightening on it as Yuriko takes a quick glance around at her teammates. It only takes that fraction of an distracted instant for Yoichi to disappear. The young girl's bright eyes blink once, shoulders tensing while she extends her senses outwards. But nothing. Not even a hint to where he could be.

A grin begins to appear on the young Okumo's lips as he watches his blades slip around Yuriko and bury into Yoichi's side effortlessly. The grin did not last on his lips for long when the spinning blades continue to spin only slightly slower as they pass through the man with little resistance. Noticing that Amata managed to level a solid strike encourages him to pull free another set of blades, tracking the man as he skirts along the ground until splashing, once again disappearing out of sight. "Why do I feel like this is a deadly game of hide and seek?"

Akane narrowed her eyes as Yoichi disappeared again and flew through several hand seals, sending out a wave of chakra in all directions.. Unfortunatley she couldn't pick out anyone but the other agressors. Yoichi had managed to avoid her this time. But that didn't stop her from attempting something. She sped to Amata's side as soon as she lost track of Yoichi. "I can't spot him this time. But maybe we can fake him out. Make a circle like I'm guiding you." And then Akane stepped back, speeding up the wall of the arena , her hands and feet both on the wall like a spider, her eyes still covered by the glasses. "Get ready!" She called to everyone, gathering her chakra even more….

Once more he slips away. Amata frowns and then nods to Akane before looking to Naoya, "Because, it is a deadly game of hide and seek." She nods her head and then looks forward, "If you want, you can fight me next. I sew people to walls." She nods her head and idly flicks her blade this way and that, watching the area around as she follows Akane's lead and then licks her lips, "Prepare to seperate." She states quietly to everyone, "If he uses an attack that hits us all, seperate quickly." She nod sher head and then looks forward.

Just when one might expect the Swordsman to pop out and eviscerate the group as a whole while they are moving into a circle, the area starts to do dark again, filling with dense mist, but not for long. The mist lightens again, yet now there are /two/ Akane's where the real one should be in the group! "He's over here!" a voice sounding exactly like Akane's rings out as a kunai is drawn that appears to be dripping in poison.

Koseitama drops down in a half-kneeling crouch after her ultimate blowhard attack. The paper 'cigar', blown out of her mouth with the attack, falls to the ground with a soft *tap* a little ways away, but Koseitama doesn't seem to notice it, her head bowed and her arms spread out to the sides. When she does look up, her countenance is significantly altered. "Oh mysterious occurance! Wherefore has gone our heretofore opponent?" :o Koseitama pops up lightly into an en pointe tiptoe with one leg held out behind her and lifts her hand to her forehead as though searching the horizon, though she makes little true effort to find Yoichi. All just part of the performance, you know.

Blinking in the direction of Akane's voice, Yuriko frowns at the directions, despite the fact that she didn't know where Yoichi is either. But Amata, she made sense at least. Sweeping the blade otu carefully in front of her, she starts to move forward. It's almost a relief when the mist begins to thin. When it becomes evident there's two Akanes, the young girl comes to an abrupt halt, gaze narrowing on the drawn, poison-tipped kunai.

Naoya offers Amata a half nod while his eyes search the arena for a hint of Yoichi, but once her words sink in he snaps his attention towards her in abrupt horror. The young teen winces slightly before his head side to side, trying to focus onto the Swordsman he was already confronting. The brief arrival and departure causes the young teen to tense but once he notices twin Akane he begins trying to find something to separate the pair, but couldn't find anything different, not even their voice. "This.. is becoming confusing."

Akane looked up and narrowed her eyes behind her glasses as the mist divided and therre was another …one of her. Well that was new. She watched the other her draw a kunai very plainly 'dripping' with 'poison' She shook her head. He was trying to get her attacked and she would get nowhere by arguing with her 'twin'. Instead, she slipped out of her jacket, letting it fall to the ground and leaving her in just her bustier on top, plenty of scars on display. Then she drew a kunai from her belt as Yuriko and Naoya seemed to be unsure what to do about this situation. She cur her own arm with the kunai, letting blood flow then she went through several seals as she spoke loudly. "Take us both down!" And with a breath and two fingers by her mouth she blew fire at the other Akane.

Along with Naoya and Yuriko, Amata was caught off guard, too. She hmms a moment, watching the other Akane and then looking carefully up at Akane with them. She then watches the blade hit Akane's arm. Blood flowing and then a fireball. She smirks and looks over at the Akane the fire is heading toward and chuckles, "Good try, Yoichi." She then rushes forward after the fireball and does a flip in the air to kick with both legs at the fake Yoichi and slam into it hard before saying, "You don't bleed or use fire."

Koseitama hears Akane's order and gasps dramatically, putting the back of her hand to her forehead. "Oh, cruel fate! Must yon heroic damsel sacrifice herself for the success of her comrades? Brave soul, thy courage shall be remembered anon!" ;.; Koseitama twirls about, then unleashes a bitter cold wind to sweep over both Akanes.

As the three women strike, the false Akane would splatter and reform back into Yoichi. "Was hoping you would catch on to that," he says with a slight smirk as he reforms from the hits, extending his arms out into a pair of large long blades, luckily given blunt ends for the purpose of this session as he spins into what looks like a bladed spinning top of doom around the arena.

Perhaps it's because she hesitated that Yoichi is able to get the upper hand, reforming and extending his arms out into a pair of long blades. The young girl makes a face to herself, pushing off to try to dodge the bladed "top of doom", but it was a fruitless. The deep slash forms at her back, crimson blood staining the white of her kimono as Yuriko falls to her hands and knees on the sandy floor. Muttering darkly under her breath, the girl tries to push herself to her feet if only to prepare for another attack.

When Naoya watches one of the Akane splash and ripple as flames, chilling winds and heavy blows are leveled against it, he grips a pair of shurikens hip pouch. Pausing before his throw, the young teen dashes to one side, trying to dodge the solidifying blades only to notice the remaining Akane grabbed him by the bicep and pulled him over a meter from where he was going to stop. "When did you.. thanks." Was said when he looks back towards here, still surprised by her speed.

Akane watched Yoichi form 'blunt' blades and then he began to spin. She knew this attack as well. One glance at the young Okumo solidified her descision. She disappeared from the wall and scooped Naoya in one arm, moving him several feet out of harm's way. The fact that Yuriko took a hit suprised the medic in all honesty. The young Kaguya looked cute but Akane knew quite well what she was like in battle. But she could only protect one of them. Naoya was more fragile. The chilled wind Koseitama had sent her way was avoided at the same time asshe moved from the wall. However, moving Naoya proved costly. She managed to pull him out of the way, but the slash meant for him struck her across her back, similar to Yuriko's wound. Akanebarely reacted to the pain as blood flowed she simply nodded to Naoya's words and turned, her hands already flashing through the proper signs.

First she was duplicated, though this time it was of her own volition. The clone leapt forward at the Swordsman, trying to connect and create lightning damage. It also served as a distraction. For even as the clone moved forward to strike at Yoichi she brought her fingers to her lips and sent multiple fireballs at Yoichi in it's wake.

Getting cut, Amata is sent flying aside for a moment and has to grab the ground to skid to a stop with her right hand, her right leg going back to catch the dirt and stop her movement while the left stays forward to keep her stable. She sighs as she puts Nuibari away and shakes her head, "Getting real tired of your crap, Yoichi." She then moves forward with a quick few steps and draws back both her hands before sending them forward in a double handled punch.

Koseitama puts her face over her hands in theatrical shame, tippy-toeing sideways. "Oh, monstrous deed! How could I, e'en with the virtuous damsel's encouragement, raise a violent hand against my boon confederate?!" ;.; Yeah, the fact that both of the Akanes managed to evade her assault seems lost on her. "Such shame as this I cannot bear! I must vanish from this mortal coil! Farewell, my companions of whom I am no longer worthy!" Just as Yoichi's aquatic slashing is coming in on Koseitama, a sudden gust of wind comes up around her, and — yup, she's gone all right. c.c Looks like she bugged out of the combat entirely.

The incoming blows literally go straight through Yoichi's body, only for him to reform. He looks at Koseitama as she turns to take over, shaking his head before looking back at the others. "That is enough," his stoic voice rings out as he reaches to resheath the Kiba blades. "I'll be coming to you with instruction on what you need to train in to be more ready for certain types of missions. Thank you for coming." With that he'd literally turn back into mist and float away.